1
as in magic
the art or skill of performing tricks or illusions for entertainment
the illusionist's show is an entertaining blend of legerdemain and over-the-top showmanship
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2
as in deception
the use of clever underhanded actions to achieve an end
the reduction of the deficit is due in part to financial legerdemain that masks the true costs of running the government
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of legerdemain
No matter how Congress formally scores the price of extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as well as other Trump initiatives, accounting legerdemain can’t make fiscal reality disappear.
—
Howard Gleckman, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2025
This legerdemain enabled Bragg to circumvent the two-year misdemeanor statute of limitations — in other words, the time to charge this stale case, which is based on seven-year-old bookkeeping entries, lapsed in 2019.
—The Editors, National Review, 29 May 2024
Serious people should know what an older version of antisemitic denialism was all about: a steady stream of factual nitpicks, logical inversions and rhetorical legerdemain meant to obfuscate and deny the greatest crime in history.
—Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024
Any such legislative legerdemain would be an unwarranted assault to circumvent the caps.
—State Senator Stephen Harding, Hartford Courant, 26 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for legerdemain
Howard Gleckman, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2025
This legerdemain enabled Bragg to circumvent the two-year misdemeanor statute of limitations — in other words, the time to charge this stale case, which is based on seven-year-old bookkeeping entries, lapsed in 2019.
—The Editors, National Review, 29 May 2024
Serious people should know what an older version of antisemitic denialism was all about: a steady stream of factual nitpicks, logical inversions and rhetorical legerdemain meant to obfuscate and deny the greatest crime in history.
—Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024
Any such legislative legerdemain would be an unwarranted assault to circumvent the caps.
—State Senator Stephen Harding, Hartford Courant, 26 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for legerdemain
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legerdemain
Noun
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But that's all thanks to some TV magic, as contestants who chose the wrong slides didn't actually fall at all.—
Sydney Bucksbaum,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 Nov. 2025
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Speaking of magic, this edition naturally features plenty of it.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Don’t get too comfortable because the toxicity, lies and deception are about to return.—
Carly Thomas,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Nov. 2025
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The 5-foot-11, 154-pound Imai throws a mix of six pitches, but is more than simply a deception specialist.—
Jon Vankin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Watching the song’s polarizing music video, which uses digital trickery to reunite the surviving Beatles with their late mates, projected behind McCartney and his band on a massive screen is trippy, and hard for the brain to comprehend.—
Joseph Hudak,
Rolling Stone,
7 Nov. 2025
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But there’s no trickery in those matches — the big ones are pay-per-view promoted events.—
Jeremy Herb,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The story then unfolded through the subterfuge of the princess and the care of Morton.—
Simon Perry,
PEOPLE,
28 Oct. 2025
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Unlike the confrontational drudgery of couples therapy — and aiming to avoid the confrontational finality of divorce — this approach relies on subterfuge.—
Sheri Linden,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The tale away from the playing field in recent years has been dizzying, one of soaring costs and debts, of quirks and chicanery unseen elsewhere.—
Chris Weatherspoon,
New York Times,
3 Nov. 2025
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Another recurring feature of the biggest asset booms is outright chicanery, such as fraudulent accounting, the marketing of worthless securities, and plain old stealing.—
John Cassidy,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Tarabay leads the cast as the titular Ashur, now thriving after his treachery.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
3 Nov. 2025
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And when the surviving crew interrogates the android Ash about his treachery, the book has him pretty much spill the space beans.—
Daniel Dockery,
Vulture,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Of course, the retort is that this would be irritating and exasperating to be continually deluged with alerts about AI deceptiveness.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
24 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The other one is the idea of political skullduggery going on in the background.—
Rick Porter,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Oct. 2025
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And though O’Neil, who has been inside, says the building itself is in no shape for skullduggery, that doesn’t mean said skullduggery isn’t happening elsewhere.—
A.K. Whitney,
Oc Register,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Legerdemain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legerdemain. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
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